IndyCars go up for auction
On Wednesday, Sept. 7, two IndyCars from the Boston Grand Prix were sold at an auction in an effort to pay back creditors after the company filed for bankruptcy.
Boston Grand Prix LLC originally bought two IndyCars, worth $85,000, to promote the failed Labor Day Weekend IndyCar race in Boston’s Seaport District. Race promoters cancelled the event in April 2016 and Boston Grand Prix filed for bankruptcy soon after, according to a Sept. 7 WCVB article.
According to bankruptcy filings, the company owes creditors millions of dollars. The two cars were previously estimated to be worth $50,000 at liquidation but eventually sold for a combined $17,500, according to the WCVB article. The cars, which have neither pedals nor engines, were presented at a live auction in Holbrook, Massachusetts. There were about a dozen people in attendance, and other bids were taken online or by phone, the article notes.
The first car was sold to an online bidder for $10,500, while the second car was bought by Mark Blotner of Newton, Massachusetts for $7,000. Two IndyCar trailers were also auctioned at $4,750 each. There was also bidding for 1,109 concrete street barriers — currently housed at Massport Property. According to the WCVB article, only 324 barriers — one third of the batch — was sold, for a total of $8,100, or $25 each. Massport has said that the remaining 783 barriers will be used at its facilities.
Gary Cruickshank, a bankruptcy trustee, reassured Boston Grand Prix creditors that he is in the process of looking over books and records to see what money can be recouped for ticket holders, vendors and creditors. “We are doing our very best to turn over every stone to get as much money as possible, to pay everybody back as quickly as possible,” Cruickshank told WCVB. Additionally, the article notes, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy is working toward distributing an estimated $1 million obtained in a settlement with the national IndyCar Organization.
—Yashaspriya Rathi
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